


Ghost At Sea

by crocodileinterior



Category: One Piece
Genre: Ghosts, Halloween, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 07:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27179687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crocodileinterior/pseuds/crocodileinterior
Summary: Sanji and Usopp share a spooky midnight ship's watch together and receive a strange visitor.
Relationships: Usopp/Sanji
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	Ghost At Sea

Sailors were a notoriously superstitious folk. Sometimes the ships cooks were the worst of the lot in that regard. Growing up Sanji had heard his fair share of ghost stories- of siren spirits who called sailors to watery deaths, haunted ships crewed by the damned, skeletons of the drowned who would reach up and tickle your feet if you swam too deep, and no place garnered more supernatural tales than The Grand Line.

But who could blame men at sea for making up stories? After all, midnight on a night’s watch on a ship at sea could be a spooky time. The sounds of the boat creaking, the wind whipping the sails, the moon casting an eerie glow on a darkened sea… was enough to send a shiver up anyone’s spine.

Maybe that was one reason why Usopp made Sanji keep him company when he got stuck with the midnight watch on the Sunny and there was a full moon out. Only one of the reasons because Usopp and Sanji liked to spend their night watches together for another reason as well.

The moon that night kept being obscured by clouds passing over it and it was a foggy night- mist creeping over the water and shrouding the sides of the deck. The weather had gotten brisk after sunset, coming out of the range of an autumn isle, but Usopp already had Sanji’s jacket draped around his shoulders, and Sanji’s arms pulled tight around him were warm and comforting. The tea Sanji had brought out for them had already stopped steaming but Usopp could barely feel the wind the way they were huddled together on the grass lawn of the ship with a shared blanket wrapped over them.

The red light at the end of Sanji’s lit cigarette guided Usopp to the approximate location of the cook’s mouth in the darkness so he could press kisses against it. Under the blanket it was hard to tell where Usopp’s body ended and Sanji’s began but they both knew the clothes were in the way- Usopp’s hand fumbled against Sanji’s belt buckle, Sanji deepened the kiss as he traced patterns with his fingers against Usopp’s collarbone before working the strap of his overalls off one shoulder. Their breath was warm and urgent between their mouths by the time Usopp had arranged himself mostly on Sanji’s lap and Sanji had his arms around his waist.

Usopp had finished undoing Sanji’s belt when he abruptly froze and looked around. Sanji made a little grunt of complaint, canting his hips up needily.

“Why’d you stop?” Sanji whined.

“Shhh! I thought…” Usopp’s voice came back as an urgent whisper. “I just felt for a second like… Like we were being watched…”

Sanji just offered him a very self-satisfied smirk. “Oh really? How kinky.”

Usopp smacked him lightly on the shoulder. “Shut up! I’m serious! What if there’s someone out here?!”

“Everyone else went to sleep.” Sanji said.

“No, I mean…” Usopp gulped loudly. “Not one of the crew… Don’t you ever get that feeling out on the sea at night..? That creepy feeling on the back of your neck? Like there’s someone or something… watching you?”

There was a scratch of sound as Sanji ignited a match, suddenly illuminating the space between them with the fire’s light. He held it up past Usopp’s scared face and peered out at the rest of the deck. The dim glow of the flame sent shadows dancing in every direction Sanji’s hand moved but no creature or crewmate was in sight.

“See? There’s nothing out there…” Sanji gave a menacing chuckle suddenly. “Well… Nothing living, that is…”

Usopp made a keening yelp and gripped Sanji’s arm. “Don’t joke around!”

Sanji laughed off his reaction and in a shake of his hand swiped the match’s light out, pitching them into darkness again.

“Relax.” Sanji reassured him, pulling him a little closer. “I’m here, aren’t I? If there’s a ghost I’d protect you.” He planted a smooch on Usopp’s cheek.

Even in the dark, Sanji didn’t have to see the sniper’s face to know he was blushing.

“Hey, I didn’t say I was scared.” Usopp huffed, pouting. “I once defeated a ghost princess and her army of spirits. If anything _I_ should be the one protecting _you_.”

“Oh yeah? I feel much safer already.” Sanji chuckled. “Just curious- if you’re not scared, why are you still gripping me so tightly?”

“That’s just because… it’s cold tonight!” Usopp defended, nuzzling his face against Sanji’s neck.

Laughing, Sanji hauled him in for another kiss, longer and deeper this time and Usopp settled into Sanji’s comforting body heat, letting the cook trail his hands down his back and rest against his thighs. When they finally had to pull away for oxygen Sanji suggested, “It’s almost time for Brook’s shift to start. How about you go get the bed warmed up for me. I’m going to have a last smoke before going in.”

“Okay. But don’t get scared without me.” Usopp sing-songed, getting up and tugging the blanket around his shoulders as he left.

Sanji stood and walked to the edge of the deck, waiting until he heard the door close behind Usopp before getting his cigarettes out and lighting one. He took a leisurely first drag, not bothering to turn around and acknowledge the apparition in the corner of the deck that was watching him.

“So you’re still sticking around him, huh?” he finally said, blowing smoke out of the corner of his mouth. “Merry?”

Klabautermann were one of the legends that had been passed around the different ships’ kitchens Sanji had worked in as a child. Franky had told him once about a Klabautermann he’d seen on the Going Merry. But Sanji himself had never seen it, until the day he’d kissed Usopp for the first time. Then he’d begun to notice it- especially on full moon nights, sometimes just out of the corner of his eye, sometimes just as a feeling on his spine- an intuition that he wasn’t alone.

He finally turned to face the spirit, its’ form just barely distinct from the fog in the faint moonlight- a little sprite with a body outlined by mist and generating a dim glow on its own.

“Don’t worry. I’ll look after him.” Sanji said solemnly. “I promise.”

He couldn’t see if the swirl of fog that made up where the ghost’s head would be had much of a face but he felt that it smiled. And in the next exhale of smoke from Sanji’s cigarette, the Klabautermann disappeared, as if it had just been an illusion of the shadows or Sanji’s eyes playing tricks on him. Sanji shook his head, sighing and throwing the last remnants of his cigarette into the ocean before heading inside to join Usopp in bed.

_**End.** _


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